Q: Please, I should like to know if it is correct to give general
absolution to, say, a group of 15 elderly people living in a nursing
home and brought together for Mass in a small room. Please note: (a) It
is impossible to hear their confession individually as they are placed
very close to each other in their wheelchairs. (b) When asked how many
are going to receive Communion (to consecrate the necessary quantity of
hosts) they all want to receive. Could I prepare them with a good act of
sorrow and then give them general absolution, making it clear to the
nurses and relatives that this absolution is not for them. And if
general absolution is permitted in this case, what about the obligation
of confessing grave sins later on? H.D., Melbourne, Australia

A: In his 2002 letter "Misericordia Dei" Pope John Paul II clarified the
conditions for granting general absolution and the concept of "grave
necessity." He said:

"Thus, after consultation with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the
Sacraments, and the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, and after
hearing the views of venerable Brother Cardinals in charge of the
dicasteries of the Roman Curia, and reaffirming Catholic doctrine on the
Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation as summarized in the Catechism
of the Catholic Church, conscious of my pastoral responsibility and
fully aware of the need for this Sacrament and of its enduring efficacy,
I decree the following:

"1. Ordinaries are to remind all the ministers of the Sacrament of
Penance that the universal law of the Church, applying Catholic doctrine
in this area, has established that:

"a) 'Individual and integral confession and absolution are the sole
ordinary means by which the faithful, conscious of grave sin, are
reconciled with God and the Church; only physical or moral impossibility
excuses from such confession, in which case reconciliation can be
obtained in other ways.'

"b) Therefore, "all those of whom it is required by virtue of their
ministry in the care of souls are obliged to ensure that the confessions
of the faithful entrusted to them are heard when they reasonably ask,
and that they are given the opportunity to approach individual
confession, on days and at times set down for their convenience.'

"Moreover, all priests with faculties to administer the Sacrament of
Penance are always to show themselves wholeheartedly disposed to
administer it whenever the faithful make a reasonable request. An
unwillingness to welcome the wounded sheep, and even to go out to them
in order to bring them back into the fold, would be a sad sign of a lack
of pastoral sensibility in those who, by priestly Ordination, must
reflect the image of the Good Shepherd. ...

"3. Since 'the faithful are obliged to confess, according to kind and
number, all grave sins committed after Baptism of which they are
conscious after careful examination and which have not yet been directly
remitted by the Church's power of the keys, nor acknowledged in
individual confession,' any practice which restricts confession to a
generic accusation of sin or of only one or two sins judged to be more
important is to be reproved. Indeed, in view of the fact that all the
faithful are called to holiness, it is recommended that they confess
venial sins also.

"4. In the light of and within the framework of the above norms, the
absolution of a number of penitents at once without previous confession,
as envisaged by Can. 961 of the Code of Canon Law, is to be correctly
understood and administered. Such absolution is in fact 'exceptional in
character' and 'cannot be imparted in a general manner unless:

"'1. the danger of death is imminent and there is not time for the
priest or priests to hear the confessions of the individual penitents;

"'2. a grave necessity exists, that is, when in light of the number of
penitents a supply of confessors is not readily available to hear the
confessions of individuals in an appropriate way within an appropriate
time, so that the penitents would be deprived of sacramental grace or
Holy Communion for a long time through no fault of their own; it is not
considered sufficient necessity if confessors cannot be readily
available only because of the great number of penitents, as can occur on
the occasion of some great feast or pilgrimage."

"With reference to the case of grave necessity, the following
clarification is made:

"a) It refers to situations which are objectively exceptional, such as
can occur in mission territories or in isolated communities of the
faithful, where the priest can visit only once or very few times a year,
or when war or weather conditions or similar factors permit.

"b) The two conditions set down in the Canon to determine grave
necessity are inseparable. Therefore, it is never just a question of
whether individuals can have their confession heard 'in an appropriate
way' and 'within an appropriate time' because of the shortage of
priests; this must be combined with the fact that penitents would
otherwise be forced to remain deprived of sacramental grace 'for a long
time,' through no fault of their own. Therefore, account must be taken
of the overall circumstances of the penitents and of the Diocese, in
what refers to its pastoral organization and the possibility of the
faithful having access to the Sacrament of Penance.

"c) The first condition, the impossibility of hearing confessions 'in an
appropriate way' 'within an appropriate time,' refers only to the time
reasonably required for the elements of a valid and worthy celebration
of the Sacrament. It is not a question here of a more extended pastoral
conversation, which can be left to more favorable circumstances. The
reasonable and appropriate time within which confessions can be heard
will depend upon the real possibilities of the confessor or confessors,
and of the penitents themselves.

"d) The second condition calls for a prudential judgment in order to
assess how long penitents can be deprived of sacramental grace for there
to be a true impossibility as described in Can. 960, presuming that
there is no imminent danger of death. Such a judgment is not prudential
if it distorts the sense of physical or moral impossibility, as would be
the case, for example, if it was thought that a period of less than a
month means remaining 'for a long time' in such a state of privation.

"e) It is not acceptable to contrive or to allow the contrivance of
situations of apparent grave necessity, resulting from not administering
the Sacrament in the ordinary way through a failure to implement the
above mentioned norms, and still less because of penitents' preference
for general absolution, as if this were a normal option equivalent to
the two ordinary forms set out in the Ritual.

"f) The large number of penitents gathered on the occasion of a great
feast or pilgrimage, or for reasons of tourism or because of today's
increased mobility of people, does not in itself constitute sufficient
necessity.

"5. Judgment as to whether there exist the conditions required by Can.
961 §1, 2 is not a matter for the confessor but for 'the diocesan Bishop
who can determine cases of such necessity in the light of criteria
agreed upon with other members of the Episcopal Conference.'(21) These
pastoral criteria must embody the pursuit of total fidelity, in the
circumstances of their respective territories, to the fundamental
criteria found in the universal discipline of the Church, which are
themselves based upon the requirements deriving from the Sacrament of
Penance itself as a divine institution."

In light of this text I believe that the case presented by our
correspondent does not fulfill the conditions for a grave situation.

There are many other options open to the priest to resolve the
situation. For example, he can arrange with those who bring the elderly
people to Mass to see which ones would like to have confession and then
arrive an hour or so before Mass to hear their confessions in a suitable
place or, if necessary, visit them in their rooms.

I suppose that our correspondent also fears that asking how many desire
to receive Communion might put undue pressure on those who for some
reason might not be able to receive
—
with the consequent danger of promoting a sacrilegious Communion.

Since it is a very small group, instead of asking, he can resolve this
difficulty by simply consecrating enough hosts for those present and,
should there be too many, he may either give the last communicants two
hosts or consume them himself. ZE06022121

* * *

Follow-up: General Absolution at a Nursing Home [03-07-2006]

Following our commentary on general absolution in a nursing home (Feb.
21) a reader asked if it were possible or wise to give general
absolution to young people with special needs.

He writes: "The first question I have is: If these young people (or
adults) have severe learning difficulties, can they sin if they do not
know what sin is? And then if they can't sin they surely do not need
absolution. The second question is (I would not think that just because
they have special needs they qualify for general absolution): If they
can sin, they must have some level of communication, however basic, and
therefore a priest working with them should be able, with pastoral
sensitivity, to give them some form of individual confession."

I am reminded of what Cardinal John Wright once said when it was
suggested that first confession should be postponed until after first
Communion so as to be carried out with fuller comprehension: "What is
easier for kids to understand: transubstantiation, or saying, 'I'm
sorry'?"

I am in broad agreement with our correspondent. If these people are in
such a severe condition as to be considered on a par with infants, then
evidently they are incapable of sin and the practice of general
absolution serves no purpose.

It does not even seem to make much pastoral sense, since general
absolution is not a magical rite. It implies that those who receive it
are sufficiently literate in catechesis to grasp the necessary
conditions, such as the requirement to confess individually before
receiving another general absolution (unless in imminent danger of
death).

If, on the other hand, they are capable of developing some notion of
sin, as well as some notion of repentance and of the priest's being able
to forgive sins, then some form of individual confession is to be
preferred.

Besides the priest's absolution, the three acts of the penitent --
repentance, confession and acceptance of the satisfaction —
are essential to the validity of the sacrament, except in extraordinary
circumstances such as when a person receives absolution in an
unconscious state while in danger of death. ZE06030722